Extending sewers along U.S. 12 is the top priority under a proposed transit development district to serve Beverly Shores and Pines.
The Regional Development unveiled the proposed boundaries of the district Wednesday night during a meeting in Beverly Shores.
The 320-acre district would extend east from the Beverly Shores train station and south along Indiana 520 with a tiny spur to a defunct pizza place near the lakefront in Beverly Shores.
The TDD is designed to encourage development in the two towns, functioning like a tax-increment financing district on steroids. Additional tax revenue raised within the district would help support future projects.
Without sewers, though, those developments wouldn’t be feasible.
“When we spoke to Beverly Shores they told us they were very interested in seeing more business activity, but they were hamstrung by the lack of sewers,” RDA Communications Director Dave Wellman said. “Connecting to Michigan City sewers is an absolute prerequisite to any kind of development in both communities. On top of that, there’s an environmental issue. This close to the lake, we really shouldn’t be on septic. I don’t think I need to go into detail as to why.”
Beverly Shores once had the Red Lantern Inn on the shoreline, but it closed when erosion destroyed its septic system.
Beverly Shores Town Council member Geof Benson points to a map of the proposed boundaries of a transit development district that would serve Beverly Shores and Pines in northeast Porter County, during a public meeting about the district on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. Public comments are invited through Jan. 29. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
Michigan City’s sanitary district operates the treatment plant and sewer lines that would extend to the transit development district for Beverly Shores and Pines. While the RDA won’t help fund sewers for areas outside that district, the pipes would be large enough to serve other areas if the towns arrange their own financing for them.
Consultant David Phelps, of Policy Analytics, said with the Indiana State Prison closing, the treatment plant will have more than enough capacity to serve the two small towns.
Beverly Shores Councilman Geof Benson said the Indiana Department of Transportation plans to redo U.S. 12 in a few years, so it makes sense to do the sewer work first so new pavement doesn’t have to be torn up for it.
Turning U.S. 12 into a scenic byway is another likely goal for the transit development district, promoting tourism along the way. TDD money could pay for wayfinding signs and help fund new amenities for tourists, Wellman said.
As with other RDA projects, money from the RDA is considered a source of last resort for projects. Traditional grants, loans and other sources are to be cobbled together before the RDA gives a final nudge to get a project in play, Wellman said.
A train at Chicago’s Millennium Station, the endpoint for the South Shore Line commuter rail service. Transit development districts are being planned around South Shore stations along the railway in Northwest Indiana. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
Each transit development district may be expanded once. For this district, that could include adding the site of the former Pine Elementary School or other areas. The districts expire in 2047.
Public comments on the proposed district’s boundaries are being accepted through Jan. 29, Wellman said. Visit www.nwitdd.com/contact
for details.
The two town councils and the RDA have to formally approve the proposed transit development district before the plan goes to the State Budget Committee for another public hearing. That could happen as soon as this summer but is more likely to occur in the fall, Wellman said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
In football, they say a “Hail Mary” has occurred when a quarterback throws a long pass in the last minutes of a game and a player catches the ball and makes a touchdown, bringing that team victory.
Portage, Chesterton, West Side and LaPorte rise in the rankings, and Morton’s Lebron Hill is the player of the week.
TOP 10
With records through Thursday and previous rankings in parentheses.
1. Crown Point 7-0 (1)
Kingston Rhodes
scores 16 points in the Bulldogs’ win against Hamilton Southeastern.
2. 21st Century 9-2 (2)
Lemetrius Williams racks up 23 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, six steals and two blocked shots in the Cougars’ win against Lighthouse.
3. Portage 8-3 (4)
Michael Wellman produces 14 points and five rebounds in the Indians’ win against Chesterton.
4. East Chicago Central 10-5 (3)
Dominique Murphy
posts 23 points and eight rebounds in the Cardinals’ win against Fort Wayne Carroll.
5. Chesterton 6-5 (7)
Logan Pokorney
puts up 23 points in the Trojans’ win against Evansville Bosse.
6. West Side 7-5 (9)
Derek Collins
is averaging 13.5 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Cougars.
7. Michigan City 5-5 (5)
Anthony Murphy records 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and five steals in the Wolves’ loss to Detroit Cass.
8. LaPorte 8-4 (NR)
Nic Spence registers 18 points, 14 rebounds and three assists in the Slicers’ win against Elkhart.
9. Munster 5-5 (6)
Joshua Malloy notches 23 points in the Mustangs’ win against Lake Central.
10. Valparaiso 4-7 (10)
Caden Crowell contributes 17 points and seven rebounds in the Vikings’ loss to South Bend St. Joseph.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior guard/forward Lebron Hill records 20 points and nine rebounds as Morton defeats Lake Central 63-43 on Tuesday to end a 10-game losing streak in the series dating to the 2016-17 season.
Donald Trump is officially an adjudicated convicted felon, after a judge in New York on Friday sentenced
him Friday morning for the 34 felony counts of falsifying business records Trump was found guilty
of in May. While Trump has already been convicted, his sentencing formalizes his criminal conviction.
Trump, however, will face no jail time or any fines for his crimes of trying to cover up hush money payments he made to a Playboy model and a porn actress during the 2016 campaign, with Judge Juan Merchan sentencing him to “unconditional discharge.”
Merchan said it was the “only lawful sentence” he could impose after Trump won the election in November.
Trump spoke at his sentencing hearing, which he attended virtually, in which he whined about the case and took no responsibility for his actions.
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump said.
The fact that Trump is escaping pretty much unscathed from the legal jeopardy he found himself in is a miscarriage of justice. He was able to escape accountability both because of an unprecedented decision by the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court, which dragged its feet before ultimately ruling
in July that Trump was immune from anything deemed an “official act
” in office.
“Prison Break”
In fact, the Supreme Court almost allowed Trump to avoid Friday’s sentencing altogether, with four of the court’s nine justices ruling
Thursday night that the sentencing should have been postponed.
What’s more, District Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump also appointed, ran interference for Trump in the classified documents case Trump faced, in which he was charged with multiple counts
of improperly retaining classified documents and then trying to obstruct justice to thwart federal investigators who sought to get those documents back.
Cannon dragged her feet in moving the case along before ultimately tossing out
the case altogether on the ridiculous notion that special counsel Jack Smith was “illegally appointed by the Justice Department.”
Ultimately, all of the foot dragging meant that the cases Trump faced were not able to be tried before the November election.
And after Trump won, the Department of Justice decided to stop prosecuting the cases
because of past precedent that said sitting presidents cannot be indicted or prosecuted.
Still, Friday’s sentencing in New York seals Trump’s fate of holding the embarrassing distinction of being the first president to be sentenced as a felon.
